St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen

St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Darwen has effectively maintained the standards set at its previous inspection. The school creates a nurturing environment where pupils feel happy and safe, and staff are committed to their well-being. While the curriculum has been significantly improved with high aspirations for all pupils, recent Year 6 assessment results do not reflect these advancements, indicating some ongoing challenges in aligning assessment outcomes with expected educational progress.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe in their learning environment.
• The school has a strong, ambitious curriculum that promotes knowledge retention.
• Effective phonics and early reading programs support children in becoming proficient readers.
• Pupils are respectful, well-behaved, and develop strong relationships.
• Excellent support is provided for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers do not check pupils' learning effectively, leading to missed opportunities to address misconceptions.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 2.5% of pupils at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 18.8% of pupils at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen received £7,157 and spent £8,154 for each of its 165 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £274,000 (-£1,663 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Darwen · Blackburn with Darwen local authority: places and applications

What is St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen have?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen has 165 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen cover?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen?

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen is at Limes Avenue, Darwen, Lancashire, BB3 2SG.